Our Love Story - Part 7 - We Need To Talk

Saturday, December 19, 1998

After another fun evening with John, the boys and I woke up early Saturday morning and drove to my parents’ house. It was their day to take Tim and AJ to meet Earl for supervised visitation. We had one more month of that arrangement before he would be allowed to take them - unsupervised - every other weekend.

We didn’t talk about the scheduled visit. I didn’t want to upset the boys if it wasn’t necessary. When lunch passed without a call from Earl, I breathed a sigh of relief. Today’s visit wouldn’t happen. I wonder why?

Late that afternoon, when we were back at home, the phone rang. It was John. “Can I come over? We need to talk.”

“Okay.”

He hung up as soon as I agreed. I had gotten used to that. He was on his way over, but this time was different.

I put another plate at the table for supper. The boys noticed and asked if it was for John. They were thrilled when the answer was, “Yes.”.   

In my mind, making supper mandatory was a good way to delay whatever inevitable conversation was about to happen. If this was the last time John would come over, the boys and I were going to sit down for a final meal with our friend. We would deal with any fallout later.

Thirty minutes passed quickly. We heard a knock on the door and a now familiar voice said, “It’s John. Can I come in?”. I let the boys answer. They excitedly opened the door and led John to the table.

Once supper was over, I put on a movie for the boys. I hoped they hadn’t noticed how quiet John had been as we ate. It had been obvious to me.

When they were settled into watching one of their favorite picks, I asked John to help me with the dishes. This conversation was going to happen. We may as well get it over with.

John helped me gather the dishes from the table and followed me into the kitchen. We sat the dishes by the sink, and I started making the dishwater. John leaned with his back against the counter.

There was no more reason to delay. Direct and to the point seemed like the way to go. “So, what do we need to talk about?”

John looked nervous as he spoke. “I need to know how you feel about something that happened today.”

Now I was nervous and confused. I asked, “What happened?”.

“I had breakfast with another woman this morning.” He was so serious.

I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about his mom or one of his sisters. This wasn’t a joke. “Do you mean like a date?”

“Yes. A date. How does that make you feel?”

“We agreed to be friends, John. We both said we weren’t ready for anything more. You are free to date whoever you want. I don’t understand what you are asking.”

“When I was on the date this morning, your uncle and cousin walked in the restaurant. It bothered me. I felt guilty. I want to know if it bothers you at all that I went on a date with someone else.”

Oh, good grief. Now I was fighting back tears. I started washing dishes to avoid looking at him and gathered my composure before answering. “Honestly, I’ve enjoyed our time together. You are easy to talk to and fun and (glancing at him with a quick grin) not hard to look at. I like you, John, and would miss you - if our friendship ended. You know the boys like you too. The thought of you possibly starting a relationship with someone else doesn’t feel good. It hurts. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

John reached up, held my chin, and gently turned my face toward him again. “I don’t ever want to hurt you, but I needed to know that you cared. This morning made me realize I don’t want to date anyone else, Teresa. I want to date you.”

Unwanted tears came. “But you said you didn’t want any drama. We are a lot of drama right now.”

John laughed and pulled me into a tight hug, wet dish hands and all. “I’ve thought about this a lot. You are worth the drama. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Those two boys in there and I are a package deal.” I spoke, partially smothered in his strong grip.

John loosened his hold on me and leaned his forehead against mine. “I’ll take that deal if you’ll let me. Now will you give me an answer?”

“Okay, John. I will be your girlfr–“, John’s lips covered mine.

I never finished that sentence. It didn’t matter. I didn’t say no.